WORDSMART2 I-Z
Induce
"Could I _____ you to read one more chapter?" the little boy asked his father at bedtime; the father was so astonished that his little boy understood such a big, important-sounding word that he quickly complied with the request.
Importune
"I hate to _____ you once again," said the woman next door, "but may I please borrow some sugar, eggs, milk, flour, butter, jam, and soup?"
Infraction
"I'm warning you, Prudence," said the headmistress. "Even the slightest _____ of school rules will get you expelled."
Ingratiatingly
"That's the loveliest, most flattering dress I've ever seen you wear, Miss Ford," the class goody-goody told the teacher _____.
Implication
A 100 percent cut in our school budget would have troubling _____; I simply don't think the children would receive a good education if they didn't have teachers, books, or a school.
Inalienable
According to the religion Jack founded, all left-handed people have an _____ right to spend eternity in paradise; needless to say, Jack is left-handed.
Indict
After a five-day water fight, the entire freshman dorm was _____ on a charge of damaging property.
Impasse
After arguing all day, the jury was forced to admit they had reached an _____; they had examined and reexamined the evidence, but they still could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Incursion
After repeated _____ into the town, the enemy soldiers finally realized that the townspeople would never surrender.
Impregnable
Again and again, the army unsuccessfully attacked the fortress, only to conclude that it was _____.
Inimical
All that makeup you wear is _____ to a clear complexion; it smothers your pores and prevents your skin from breathing.
Innuendo
Although his opponent never actually said Senator Hill cheated on his wife, the public _____ were enough to ruin Hill's chances for reelection.
Incendiary
Although the inspector from the arson squad found a scorched _____ device in the gutted basement of the burned-down house, the neighbors insisted that the fire was accidental.
Incumbent
An _____ senator usually has a distinct advantage over any opponent because being in office makes it easier for him or her to raise the millions of dollars needed to finance a modern political campaign.
Impunity
Babies can mash food into their hair with _____; no one gets angry at them because babies aren't expected to be polite.
Ingratiation
Bella's attempts at _____ were unsuccessful; her teacher could tell she was being insincere when she told him how nice he looked.
Impecunious
Can you lend me five million dollars? I find myself momentarily _____.
Impeach
Congress is still trying to decide whether to _____ the president for spilling fingerpaint in the Oval Office.
Inimitable
Dressed in a lampshade and a few pieces of tinsel, Frances managed to carry off the evening in her usual _____ style.
Infraction
Driving seventy miles an hour in a thirty-mile-an-hour zone is what Fred would call a minor _____ of the traffic laws, but the policeman did not agree, and Fred's license was suspended for a year.
Inquisition
During the Spanish _____, people were substantially better off if they were not found to be heretics. The Spanish inquisitors weren't fond of heresy.
Infuse
Everyone in the wedding party was nervous until the subtle harmonies of the string quartet _____ them with a sense of tranquillity; of course, they had also drunk quite a bit of champagne.
Impenetrable
For obvious reasons, knights in the Middle Ages hoped that their armor would be _____.
Improvise
Forced to land on a deserted island, the shipwrecked sailors _____ a shelter out of driftwood and sand.
Inimitable
Fred's dancing style is so _____ that anyone who follows his act looks like a drunk elephant by comparison.
Influx
Heavy spring rains brought an _____ of mud to people's basements.
Imbue
Henrietta soaked her white dress in a bathtub of tea to _____ it with a subtle tan color.
Inclined
I am _____ to postpone my study of vocabulary in order to take a nap right now.
Inquisition
I keep telling you that I got home late because I missed the bus! What is this, some kind of _____?
Innuendo
I resent your _____ that I'm not capable of finishing what I start.
Impenetrable
I was unable to guess what Bob was thinking; as usual, his expression was _____.
Impeach
If the president proves to be a man of unimpeachable honor, he will not be _____.
Ineluctable
If you keep waving that sword around in this crowded room, I'm afraid a tragedy will be _____.
Inalienable
In my household, we believe that people are born with an _____ right to have desserts after meals.
Impediment
Irene's inability to learn foreign languages was a definite _____ to her mastery of French literature.
Inadvertent
Isabelle's _____ laughter during the sad part of the movie was a great embarrassment to her date.
Incumbent
It is _____ upon me, as Lord High Suzerain of the Universe, to look out for the welfare of all life forms.
Infringement
It is a clear _____ of copyright to photocopy the entire text of a book and sell copies to other people.
Inculcate
It took ten years, but at last we've managed to _____ in our daughter the habit of shaking hands.
Impeach
It's not fair to _____ my morals just because I use swear words every once in a while.
Impetuous
Jeremy is so _____ that he ran out and bought an engagement ring for a girl who smiled at him in the subway.
Idiom
Jerry didn't get along very well with the people in the computer department because he didn't understand their _____.
Impending
Jim's _____ fiftieth birthday filled him with gloom; he was starting to feel old.
Importunate
Leslie's _____ boyfriend called her day and night to ask her if she still loves him; after the hundredth such phone call, she understandably decided that she did not.
Ingratiate
Licking the hands of the people he met did not _____ Rashid with most of the guests at the cocktail party, although he did make a favorable impression on the poodle.
Inflammatory
Maxine's _____ speech about animal rights made her listeners so angry that they ran out of the building and began ripping the fur coats off passersby.
Impresario
Monsieur Clovis, the _____ of the Little Rock Operetta House, is as temperamental as some of his singers; if he doesn't get his way, he holds his breath until he turns blue.
Impoverish
Mr. DeZinno spent every penny he had on lottery tickets, none of which was a winner; he _____ himself in his effort to become rich.
Inclination
My natural _____ at the end of a tiring morning is to take a long nap rather than a brisk walk, even though I know that the walk would be more likely than the nap to make me feel better.
Incarnation
Nina is the _____ of virtue; she has never done anything wrong since she was born.
Incarnate
Nina's brother Ian, however, is so evil that some people consider him the devil _____. That is, they consider him to be the embodiment of the devil, or the devil in human form.
Inclination
Nudists have an _____ to ridicule people who wear clothes, while people who wear clothes have the same inclination toward nudists.
Impetuous
Olive's decision to drive her car into the lake to see whether it would float was an _____ one that she regretted as soon as water began to seep into the passenger compartment.
Incendiary
On July 3, the newspaper published an _____ editorial urging readers to celebrate the nation's birthday by setting flags on fire.
Innuendo
Oscar tried to hint that he wanted a new fishing pole for his birthday, but Maxine didn't pick up on the _____, and she gave him a bowling ball instead.
Inadvertent
Paula's snub of Lauren was entirely _____; she hadn't meant to turn up her nose and treat Lauren as though she were a piece of furniture.
Ingratiate
Putting tacks on people's chairs isn't exactly the best way to _____ yourself with them.
Insouciant
Sebastian delighted in observing the _____ play of children, but he didn't want any children of his own.
Impregnable
Thanks to repeated applications of Turtle Wax, my car's finish is _____; the rain and snow bounce right off it.
Impoverishment
The Great Depression led to the _____ of many formerly well-off families in America.
Incumbent
The _____ dog warden would love to surrender his job to someone else, but no one else is running for the job.
Influx
The _____ of ugly clothes in the stores this fall can only mean that fashion designers have lost their minds once again.
Impromptu
The actress did her best to pretend her award acceptance speech was _____, but everyone could see the notes tucked into her dress.
Indictment
The broken fishbowl and missing fish were a clear _____ of the cat.
Importune
The ceaseless _____ of her children finally drove Sophie over the brink; she stuffed the entire brood in the car and left them with her mother-in-law.
Imperative
The children couldn't quite accept the idea that cleaning up the playroom was _____; they said they didn't mind wading through the toys strewn on the floor, even if they did occasionally fall down and hurt themselves.
Infrastructure
The country's political _____ was so corrupt that most of the citizens welcomed the coup.
Infuse
The couple's redecoration job somehow managed to _____ the whole house with garishness; before, only the kitchen had been garish.
Infringe
The court ruled that the ugly color of Zeke's neighbor's house did not _____ on any of Zeke's legal rights as a property owner.
Inducement
The dusty, neglected-looking mannequins in the store window were hardly an _____ to shop there.
Impede
The fact that the little boy is missing all his front teeth _____ his speaking clearly.
Impede
The faster I try to pick up the house, the more the cat _____ me; he sees me scurrying around, and, thinking I want to play, he runs up and winds himself around my ankles.
Improvisation
The forgetful choir soloist fortunately had a knack for _____.
Impenetrable
The fortress on the top of the hill was _____ to the poorly armed soldiers; although they tried for days, they were unable to break through its thick stone walls.
Incendiary
The lyrics of the heavy-metal star's songs are so _____ that his fans routinely trash the auditorium during his performances.
Indict
The mob boss had been _____ many times, but he had never been convicted because his high-priced lawyers had always been able to talk circles around the district attorney.
Ineluctable
The overmatched opposing football team could not halt our _____ progress down the field, and we easily scored a touchdown.
Inculcate
The preacher who believes that stern sermons will _____ morals in his congregation frequently finds that people stop coming to church at all.
Impoverish
The ravages of the tornado _____ many families in our town and placed a heavy strain on our local government's already limited resources.
Impending
The reporter didn't seem to notice his rapidly _____ deadline; he poked around in his office as if he had all the time in the world.
Inimical
The reviews of his exhibition were so _____ that Charles never sculpted again.
Impending
The scowl on her husband's face alerted Claire to an _____ argument.
Ineradicable
The subway officials did their best to scrub the graffiti off the trains, but the paint the vandals had used proved to be _____; not even cleaning fluid would remove it.
Impregnable
There's no point in trying to change Mr. Roberts's attitude about hairstyles; you will find that his belief in a link between long hair and communism is utterly _____.
Impenetrable
This essay is utterly _____. There isn't one word in it that makes sense to me.
Idiomatic
This rule of grammar may seem peculiar to everyone else in the country because it is only _____ to the people living in that small region.
Ineradicable
Tim wore saddle shoes and yellow socks on the first day of high school, garnering himself an _____ reputation as a nerd.
Incursion
Todd's midnight _____ on the refrigerator usually meant that at breakfast time no one else in the family had anything to eat.
Impresario
Val calls himself an _____, but he is really just a lazy guy who likes to hang around rock concerts making a nuisance of himself.
Imbue
Was it the young poet's brilliant writing or his dashing appearance that _____ the girls with such a love of poetry?
Impasse
We seem to have reached an _____. You want to spend the money on a pair of hockey skates for yourself, while I want to donate it to charity.
Impromptu
When Dimitri's mother-in-law dropped in without warning, he prepared her an _____ meal of the foods he had on hand - coffee and tomato sauce.
Impecunious
When his dream of making a fortune selling talking T-shirts evaporated, Arthur was left _____.
Infrastructure
When people talk about "the nation's crumbling _____," they are usually referring to deteriorating highways, crumbling bridges, poorly maintained public buildings, and other neglected public resources.
Improvise
When the choir soloist forgot the last verse of the hymn, she hastily _____ a version of her own.
Implication
When you said I looked healthy, was that really meant as an _____ that I've put on weight?
Infusion
Whenever I have a cough, my grandmother steeps an _____ of herbs that cures me right away.
Infringe
Whenever Patrick comes into her room, Liz always shouts, "Mom! He's _____ on my personal space!"
Inadvertently
While ironing a shirt, Steven _____ scorched one sleeve; it was really the collar that he had meant to scorch.
Ineluctable
With slow but _____ progress, a wave of molasses crept across the room, silently engulfing the guests at the cocktail party.
